The present invention relates to apparatuses and methods for portioning food items. More particularly, but not by way of limitation, the present invention relates to apparatuses and methods for portioning poultry breast items.
A need presently exists for a fast and economical system for portioning poultry breast fillets, as well as other food items, to provide products having highly uniform shapes and sizes. The provision of highly uniform meat and poultry items allows the use of very standardized cooking and handling procedures and thus greatly enhances product safety as well as product consistency, quality, and appearance.
Heretofore, hand trimming techniques have commonly been used in an attempt to provide some uniform poultry breast fillet products. Unfortunately, hand trimming techniques are extremely labor intensive and are therefore typically quite slow and costly. Moreover, although many hand trimmers are quite skilled, hand trimming techniques are, by no means, highly precise. Thus, the products produced by these techniques typically are not as uniform as would be desired.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,941,379 discloses an apparatus for producing size-controlled portions of meat. The apparatus comprises a plurality of mandrels attached to a chain for continuous movement along a predetermined path. Each mandrel includes a squeezable pocket in which a boneless poultry breast fillet is received. With the pocket in vertical position and with the poultry breast placed therein, the mandrel moves past a vibrating assembly which shakes the meat into proper position in the pocket. Next, the mandrel moves past a water knife and blade assembly which removes any excess end portion of the meat protruding from the top of the pocket. As the mandrel moves past the cutting assembly, the pocket contacts and is squeezed by a pair of stationary contact members. The squeezing of the pocket is intended to further enhance the uniformity of the product produced by the apparatus.
Although the products produced by the apparatus of U.S. Pat. No. 4,941,379 may be somewhat uniform with respect to weight and, perhaps, length, the products are not uniform with respect to other critical features. For example, the U.S. Pat. No. 4,941,379 apparatus does little, if anything, to ensure the attainment of a uniform thickness profile. The squeezing force applied to the mandrel pocket is clearly not sufficient to permanently compress the breast product. Moreover, even if sufficient pressure were applied to permanently compress the product, the degree of retention of the compressed profile would vary substantially among the individual products produced. The attainment of a permanent, uniform thickness profile is critical to the implementation of standardized cooking procedures, The U.S. Pat. No. 4,491,379 apparatus also does not provide highly uniform widths and shapes.
U.S. Pat, No. 5,569,070 discloses an apparatus for portioning a cut of whole muscle meat into a product having margins of selected size. The apparatus comprises: a turntable assembly; a plurality of lower platens secured to the turntable assembly; and an upper die. Chicken breasts fillets are placed on the lower platens and the platens are then sequentially rotated by the turntable into position beneath the upper die. The upper die stamps and compresses the chicken breast items against the lower platens. The upper die includes a shaped blade which removes excess material from the perimeter of the breast portion and is thus intended to provide a uniform length and width. It is also intended that the compressive force of the upper die impart a substantially uniform, compressed thickness profile.
Unfortunately, the degree to which the individual products produced by the U.S. Pat. No. 5,569,070 apparatus retain the compressed profile will vary significantly. Thus, the thickness profiles of products will not be highly uniform. Further, the extreme compressive force applied to the breast portions can alter the tissue characteristics of the products and therefore adversely affect the quality of the product. Moreover, stamping machines of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,569,070 typically produce a tremendous amount of noise.
The present invention provides a portioning apparatus and a portioning method which resolve the problems and satisfy the needs mentioned above. The inventive apparatus and method are quick and economical and provide highly uniform, high quality products which have a very desirable look, feel, and texture.
In one aspect, the present invention provides an apparatus for portioning food items comprising: retaining means for retaining at least one food item; imparting means for imparting a force to the food item sufficient to hold the food item against the retaining means; and cutting means, receivable between the retaining means and the imparting means, for cutting the food item into at least a first portion and a second portion.
In another aspect, the present invention provides an apparatus for portioning food items comprising: retaining means for retaining at least one food item, the retaining means having at least one cavity provided therein for receiving a first portion of the food item; vacuum means for creating a vacuum in the cavity sufficient to hold the first portion in the cavity; and cutting means for cutting the food item into at least the first portion and a second portion.
In another aspect, the present invention provides a method of portioning food items. The method comprises the steps of: (a) placing a first portion of a food item in a cavity provided in a holding structure; (b) pressing the food item, using a pressing structure, with a force sufficient to hold the first portion in the cavity; and (c) while pressing the food item, receiving a cutting structure between the holding structure and the pressing structure such that the cutting structure cuts the food item into at least the first portion and a second portion.
In another aspect, the present invention provides a method of portioning food items comprising the steps of: (a) continuously conveying the food items into engagement with a cutting structure, the food items being conveyed by a series of cavities such that each of the food items has a first portion positioned in a separate one of the cavities; (b) pressing the food items, using a pressing structure, with a force sufficient to hold the first portions in the cavities; and (c) while pressing the food items, receiving the cutting structure between the cavities and the pressing structure such that the cutting structure cuts each of the food items into at least the first portion and a second portion.
In yet another aspect, the present invention provides a method of portioning food items comprising the steps of: (a) placing the first portion of a food item in a cavity provided in a holding structure; (b) creating a vacuum in the cavity sufficient to hold the first portion in the cavity; and (c) while holding the first portion in the cavity using the vacuum, cutting the food item into at least the first portion and a second portion.
Further objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will be apparent upon examining the accompanying drawings and upon reading the following description of the preferred embodiments.